


Dreams and Hopes

by geek_inherit



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Rapunzel Fusion, Alternate Universe - Tangled (2010) Fusion, Fluff and Humor, Nonbinary Kris (Deltarune), Other, sticking p close to the og plot but also not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2019-10-10 13:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17426882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geek_inherit/pseuds/geek_inherit
Summary: a Deltarune Tangled AUFor nearly 18 years, life for Ralsei has been living up in a tower, reading, baking, and wondering what the mysterious lights he sees every year on his birthday could mean.That all changes, however, when a young thief named Kris stumbles into his life. They strike up a deal, one that ends up being a little bit... inconvenient for Kris, who is on the run after their last great heist. Inconvenient in more ways than one. Running from the Royal Guard is difficult, especially when you have to deal with your new friend's 70-ft-long scarf.





	1. One

Kris looked over the crenelated ramparts and took a moment to admire the picturesque kingdom situated beneath them. The streets were nowhere near full, and everyone who was out and about seemed to be too preoccupied to look up at the castle and notice that someone was staring back at them. This was ideal, as Kris was definitely not supposed to be here. 

"Hurry up, Kris, it's not like we have all day!" their partner in crime squawked, breaking the silence.

Berdly was annoying, to say the least, and often expected more than his fair share of whatever he and Kris managed to get their hands on. But if things went their way, this was the last crime they'd ever have to commit together. The expected payout was enough for the both of them to retire, even if the split wasn't exactly 50/50. 

Kris adjusted the rope around their waist and walked a few feet over to Berdly, who was tapping his foot impatiently. They looked down through a hatch in the ground, perfectly positioned over a stone pedestal in the middle of a small, circular room. What looked like a small golden ring from above was sitting on a cushion. When they tilted their head slightly, Kris could see a the shiny helmet of a guard, who was leaning casually up against a wall several feet away, their back to the pedestal. 

"Ready?" Berdly whispered, somewhat unnecessarily because they were a good 50 feet up. Kris nodded. They stepped towards the hole in the ceiling and allowed themself to fall slowly through it.

After a few seconds of being gradually lowered, Kris was close enough that they were able to see that the guard was no longer alone. They began to panic slightly, before they saw that the newcomer was also facing away, and seemed to be too engaged in their conversation with the guard to notice the intruder being lowered from the ceiling.

"Rouxls said I wasn't allowed to dig holes in my room anymore," said the newcomer, pouting, "because apparently Dad said it's 'not safe' and 'The maids have fallen in twice this week' or something..."

"That sucks man," said the guard.

"Where else am I going to put my things?"

It took Kris a moment to recognize the kid. Most members of the royal families only made public appearances on important days, but the Spade King's strange son Lancer was frequently spotted in the marketplace zooming around on his bicycle, usually followed by some harried people he was clearly trying to ditch.

"He only said you can't dig them in your room..." said the guard. Lancer's face lit up. "Don't tell anyone I said that," she added quickly, grinning wickedly all the same.

This guard couldn't be any older than they were, Kris thought. She was much taller though, with long dark hair and purple skin. Kris wondered how she had managed to become friends with the prince. 

The royal families were enigmas, to say the least. Most people think, especially those originally from the kingdom across the lake, that having four kings was impractical. But they got by. And what did the other kingdom have to say on the matter, because as far as anyone knew, they had no ruler. At least, no ruler who anyone had ever seen. Not since what happened to the prince. 

Kris wasn't even born when the baby prince, the only heir to the Dark Kingdom, vanished mysteriously in the night. It was assumed to be kidnapping, although some of the more eccentric folks in town told stories of the royal family getting a little bit too involved in dark magic, and... well...

Kris now held the golden crown in their hands. They took a moment to admire the way the light danced on its surface, then pulled gently on the rope to have Berdly begin reeling them in.

"I mean, I guess I already have enough holes, but it's not really the amount of holes, it's the - SUSIE LOOK!" The prince was now looking directly at Kris.

"What the hell... HEY YOU!"

Kris began pulling on the rope more urgently and looked up at Berdly, terror in their eyes. The guard, yelling with rage, ran over and tried to jump up and pull Kris down, but they were just out of arms' reach. In order to speed up the process, Kris pushed the crown up their arm and began climbing the rope. They scrambled up onto the battlements by themself, as Berdly was now too frozen with fear to help.

"Run," said Kris hoarsely and leaped over the ramparts onto the roof of a nearby building. Berdly wasted time shouting a few choice expletives before scrambling after them. 

The two of them ran from rooftop to rooftop as a small group of soldiers followed as best as they could on the ground. They shot arrows up at them, which made Berdly even more audibly distressed. A couple arrows got stuck in the tiles below them, and Kris instinctively scooped them up and stuffed them into the satchel on their hip, along with the crown. 

They finally reached a rooftop that afforded them easy access to the ground, then headed for the outskirts of town. Their detour had afforded them some time, but they still heard the distant noise of shouting from several blocks away. They also heard the tell-tale clopping of horses' hooves. It seemed as though they would make it safely into the cover of the woods, until they came to a stone wall, 10 feet high, that stretched in both directions for as far as they could see.

"Help me," Kris gasped, "Give me a boost."

"On one condition," said Berdly. Kris' head whipped around to stare at him. This was not the time for ultimatums, but it was so like Berdly to be making them. "Give me the crown."

Kris' mouth opened, then closed. Then they reluctantly handed him their satchel. Berdly laced his fingers together and held them down for Kris to step on. They placed their boot there and gracelessly scrambled up the wall, bumping into Berdly enough to make him protest. When they were safely standing up on the wall's edge, Berdly called up to them.

"Now help me!" he cried, bobbing up and down on his toes anxiously. The commotion of the guards was drawing nearer.

Kris turned to show off the satchel that was somehow hanging at their hip again, blew Berdly a kiss, and jumped into the brush on the other side of the wall. Berdly howled in despair. Kris took off running through the thick trees. 

The wall would stop the pursuit for a minute or two, but Kris needed a more permanent place to hide. As they ran, they spotted a small curtain of overgrown weeds. As a strong breeze blew, the grass flutter to reveal a cave behind it. Kris instantly changed course and ducked through the opening. 

Kris paused for a moment, out of breath, waiting for their eyes to adjust before moving forwards, but strangely everything around them remained pitch black. They took a few hesitant steps forward, arms outstretched to feel for any kind of wall. They stumbled over some loose rocks on the ground, the sound echoing unnaturally in their ears, but they found no other indication of being in a physical place at all, just an all-encompassing blackness.

Kris started to walk faster, desperate to find... anything... when suddenly it was as if the floor had fallen out from underneath them. Kris didn't even have a moment to think before they tumbled down through the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a 3 am idea. the more i thought about it the more it made sense. to the point where i had to write it in order to stop constantly thinking about it. 
> 
> I haven't written fic since like 2014, and I've never posted my stuff on AO3 before, but I have such a soft spot for this ship and there's not enough fic of them and I had this au idea that i think is pretty great so here goes nothing.
> 
> And I know Ralsei's not in this chapter, but if you read the summary you might be wondering: no long hair in this one? For the record, the idea of giving Ral long hair was in my brain for two seconds before it was forcibly ejected because i have no idea how that would work because he's a goat and already too fluffy. but comically long scarves? that's something i can get behind.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I promise the next ones will be longer. I'd like to continue with it, and I already have quite a bit written but it is Not ready to see the light of day. Please comment! I'll appreciate the feedback.


	2. Two

Ralsei decided to spend the afternoon doing one of his favorite activities: baking a cake. This wasn't, however, one of his ordinary, I-want-cake-for-breakfast cakes. This was for a very special occasion. According to an old calendar tacked to his bedroom wall, tomorrow was his birthday. What better way to celebrate than an intricately decorated cake? Even if he would be the only one to enjoy it... 

Ralsei hummed softly as he tied an apron around his waist and began pulling ingredients down from various shelves, nimbly stepping over his long scarf trailing on the floor. He used a bit of fire magic to preheat the oven and pulled out a couple of heavy cake pans.

Tomorrow was also the day the mysterious lights would appear in the sky. Every year on his birthday, ever since he could remember, he had looked out his window and seen them, pale blue and ghostly, floating over the lake. He'd always wanted one to float near enough that he could see what they looked like up close. Maybe one day one would crash into his roof. But so far, they'd always winked out miles away from him.

He had searched through every book he had, but found nothing about lights that only appeared once a year. The fact they appeared on his birthday puzzled him as well... Likely it was just a coincidence, but he couldn't help but wonder. Sometimes Ralsei thought about leaving his tower to go investigate them, but his curiosity was never strong enough to get him to actually do it. Ralsei had spent his life reading books, where he learned everything he could possibly want to know about the world, the good parts and the bad. The idea of leaving his safe haven and going out into the unknown terrified him. If he wasn't alone, maybe things would be different, but...

Ralsei also figured he was in the tower for a reason. Maybe one day he would find out that reason too. 

As he mixed the batter, he switched from humming to singing. For now, he was happy where he was. Tomorrow was going to be a good day.

~ '' ~

Kris didn't remember the impact. After sitting up, checking for injuries, and finding none, they realized the fall must not have been that bad. It felt as if they had been falling for a long time though... Looking up to see where they had come from, they saw only blue sky and the tops of a few scattered trees. Weird. 

They looked around and saw they had landed in a thick carpet of tall grass and bright yellow wildflowers. A light breeze played on their face. Then Kris' eyes alighted on the tower in the distance. 

This was clearly the best hiding place that anyone could possibly hope for, Kris thought. Maybe there were even some long-forgotten valuables inside. They got to their feet and slowly walked towards the tower, stopping to pick one of the beautiful flowers. It smelled a little bitter. Kris noted that these flowers were not unlike the ones they used to gather in the village where they grew up. They absentmindedly put the flower behind their ear for safekeeping. 

When they reached the slightly crumbling brick of the tower, they frowned at its steep surface. The entrance was about 30 feet up, and as they made a loop around it, there seemed to be no alternate entrance at the ground level. As Kris looked around for anything to assist them in climbing, they felt the crown and arrows shift in their satchel. They reached in and pulled out two of the arrows. It wasn't the best idea, but there wasn't any harm in trying. Except for the potential of falling twenty feet up. The flowers at base of the castle seemed to be growing thick enough to break their fall, however.

They stuck an arrow into the space between the brick, and were grateful to find that it stuck in securely. The climb only took a few minutes, and they stopped to rest on the ledge. They didn't hear singing until a few moments before it stopped abruptly. Kris' heart skipped several beats. Someone else was here. 

~ '' ~

Ralsei froze mid-note when he heard the sound of movement coming from his living room. He had absolutely no idea what to do. He was not prepared for any sort of home invasion, as it had never happened before and he'd never considered it actually would. He sat perfectly still, hoping the sounds were just imaginary. But he heard more shuffling. And, worse, it sounded like it was heading this way. Ralsei picked up one of the heavy cake pans, thankfully still empty, and readied himself to defend. 

When the door opened, Ralsei reacted on instinct and brought the pan down as hard as he could. 

~ '' ~

Susie was crashing loudly through the brush, her mind too filled with rage to consider that creating less noise would be a more effective way to search for the human. 

"Susie, I'm tired... It's been days..." whined the prince, who was riding on her back, his arms slumped over her shoulder. It had only been 20 minutes.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have come," snapped Susie, despite the fact that maybe this wasn't the way to talk to someone who could easily lose her her job. 

"But I wanna help catch the human!!!! This is _way_ cooler than anything I could be doing right now!"

Susie leaned down to look through a particularly dense bush. Lancer vibrated slightly with excitement. After a few seconds, where she found no trace of anything out-of-the-ordinary, she straightened up. The prince sighed loudly.

"You know, Your Highness, if you would just walk on your own and maybe - " started Susie, but Lancer cut her off.

"I've already _told_ you! You don't have to call me that! And my wheels don't work in the forest..." He pointed at his sneakers, which had small wheels in the bottom towards the heel.

Maybe he could just walk like a normal person, thought Susie. But she knew from experience that arguing with Lancer always led nowhere. He had an uncanny ability to defuse her temper with his circular reasoning. Nobody else she knew would be able to say they could do that.

Susie sighed through her nose and continued the search.

~ '' ~

When Kris came to, they felt suspiciously... okay. They tried to lift their hand to their head to feel for a bruise, but they found that they physically couldn't. Both their arms were tied by thick red knitted fabric, as well as their torso and legs. There seemed to be an endless supply of this fabric trailing across the floor as well. They began to flail their limbs, attempting to break free.

"Stop struggling," said a voice from behind them. It sounded like whoever was speaking was trying to be threatening, but an undercurrent of terror in their voice that made the words shake.

Kris had no idea what to say to that. But they did stop. 

A monster in a long green robe and pointed hat stepped in front of them. He was holding up a cake pan like a baseball bat, which when combined with the flowery apron he was wearing didn't exactly create a threatening image.

Kris was apprehensive of the cake pan for a moment, but could see in the monster's eyes he wasn't going to swing it again. Come to think of it, pretty much all that could be seen of this monster was his eyes, huge behind thick glasses. Most of the bottom half of his face was wrapped in a red scarf, made of the same material that was binding Kris to the chair. 

Wait. Kris' eyes scanned the room and noticed the scarf WAS what was binding them to the chair. 

"What," they whispered, mostly to themself. Who would knit a scarf so long? Who had the time for that?

"Who are you?" said the monster, slightly more confused than scared.

"Uhhh..." Kris briefly considered using a fake name. But that would be too much. "Kris?"

"What are you doing here?" Now he sounded just perplexed. Clearly he had sensed something in Kris that told him they weren't a threat.

They had no idea how to answer that, and so stayed silent.

"Are you here to kidnap me?"

"No... no!" said Kris, relieved to be able to latch onto something, "I-I don't even know who you are, I thought this place was abandoned..."

"Huh."

The monster finally lowered the cake pan and assumed a less defensive stance. He then leaned over and plucked the golden flower from behind Kris' ear. He twirled it in his fingers gently. 

"I've never seen one up close before," he said, in a way that seemed like he'd forgotten about Kris. Kris, however, was hyper-aware of his nearness. They blushed slightly.

"... who are you?" Kris said.

"Oh! I forgot to say... I'm Ralsei!" Ralsei carefully put the flower back in Kris' hair. 

Then Kris remembered something.

"W-where did you put my satchel?" Kris tried to twist around, and the movement caused the entire chair to lurch with a loud screeching noise, startling Ralsei.

"I've hidden it!" said Ralsei, straightening his back and trying to inject a note of defiance into his voice, "and I'm not going to tell you where until you've answered my questions."

Kris was now turned away from Ralsei, so they had to crane their neck to look at him. You've got to be kidding me, they thought. Ralsei looked rather proud of himself, from what Kris could see of his face. Kris groaned internally.

"What do you want to know."

"Oh wow!" said Ralsei excitedly clutching the cake pan with both hands, "I have so many questions... I don't know where to begin..."

"Uh, I probably won't be able to answer all of them..." said Kris apprehensively. Ralsei didn't seem to hear them.

"Oh! Do you know what the lights are?" said Ralsei eagerly, "The lights in the sky?"

Kris was taken aback. "The... stars?" 

"No, they're not stars, I know what stars are," Ralsei said, pouting slightly, "these lights are bigger and closer. And they only appear once a year. Right over there." He pointed out the window for emphasis, at a particularly stunning view of a lake nestled between a gap in the mountain range. On one edge of the lake, Kris could see the stone buildings of the kingdom they had just made their daring escape from. On the other, further west, there was much smaller kingdom. There was nothing in the bright blue sky except for a few puffy clouds at the moment, but Kris could imagine how breathtaking it would be to see thousands of mysterious lights glittering above the lake. 

"You mean the lantern thing," they said, "the thing the other kingdom does for the lost prince."

"Other kingdom?"

"Yeah there's the one right there..." Kris tried to point before realizing their hands were still bound, "uh, the closer one. And then there's the one that's really far away, it doesn't look like much from here... and apparently it's not much up close either..." This had to be the most talking they had done in a long time. It was exhausting. But it seemed to be necessary for getting out of this particular situation.

"Why not?"

"Well," sighed Kris, "apparently since the prince was... whatever happened to him... that kingdom sort of just... drew back into itself? The rulers don't make public appearances, no one really hears from the citizens, a lot of people moved away..."

"Why would they just do that?"

"I don't really know, I was just born back then..."

Ralsei stared out the window at the little kingdom. He twirled the cake pan in his hands.

"But yeah," started Kris, "they do the lantern thing, still, they've been doing it... almost 18 years, I think?... that's it basically."

Ralsei was still looking out the window, his mind clearly working. Kris shuffled their feet on the floor awkwardly. There was silence for a long moment.

"I want to see them," said Ralsei suddenly, "can you take me there?"

"... What."

"I want to see the lights up close. I don't know... I think they're important... to me... somehow..."

Kris stumbled over their words for a second. "Well uh... I can't take you THERE there, the kingdom doesn't open its doors for anyone anymore." Kris knew that personally. They tried to get in with Berdly once, for the sake of committing some petty crime. But it had not gone over well.

"I just want to be closer to them... we don't have to actually go into the kingdom to do that..."

"I'm sorry, I can't, I have other things to do," said Kris, a note of desperation creeping into their voice, "I answered your questions, can I please have my satchel?"

"Hm. No," said Ralsei, stepping in front of Kris and crossing his arms. "Not until you take me to see the lights."

Kris knew that they were beat. Ralsei had leverage against them, extremely good leverage, and he knew it. Ralsei's eyes were twinkling with glee. Kris still paused long enough to make their distaste clear. 

"Fine, I'll take you." 

Ralsei beamed. "Really? That's great!"

"... Can you please untie me now?" 

"O-oh, right!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They Meet.
> 
> You're probably wondering why there's no mother-gothel-like figure in this. I have two answers. The lazy answer is I couldn't think of an equivalent character in the deltarune universe. The better answer is a big part of Ral's personality in the game is his loneliness and isolation I didn't want to take that away from him. I want that good CHARACTER GROWTH. 
> 
> That being said, I have a work-around for her, and I hope it's not too weird or complicated when it comes into play. but it's a SECRET so i'm not gonna say any more. 
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter! I'm planning on updating weekly-ish from here on out, probably on fridays or saturdays. I don't know how many chapters this is gonna be yet, but once I figure that out I'll let y'all know. Kudos and comments are always appreciated!


	3. Three

Ralsei gasped suddenly.

"What?" asked Kris, rubbing their newly freed arms.

"I nearly left without turning the oven off!" he cried. He quickly trotted back into the kitchen, untying the flowery apron as he went. 

Kris lifted a hand to their head and noticed that there was no bruise there. They didn't feel like they had been hit hard enough to knock them out, or even hit at all. Before they had time to process this, Ralsei was back.

"Alright, let's go!" said Ralsei excitedly. His comically large scarf was half-bundled up in his arms. 

Kris looked over the railing to the ground thirty feet below. They didn't want to take their chances with another fall today. It looked like they would have to put their thievery skills to use. 

Kris took the end of Ralsei's scarf, threaded it through the rungs of the chair, and dropped it over the edge of the window. With the chair propped up against the wall below the opening, Kris figured, the scarf would probably be strong enough to hold Kris and Ralsei's weight, if they went separately.

As they worked, Kris noticed Ralsei was watching. His eyes were wide with apprehension.

"I'll go first, to show you it's safe," Kris said, adding a note of soothing to their tone. 

Kris carefully stepped out of the window and, scarf in hand, braced their legs against the stone. They managed to shimmy down the wall without any issue. Once they was safely on the ground, they looked up and saw Ralsei's head peeking nervously out over the ledge. He called down, "O-okay, I'm ready!"

It took considerably longer for Ralsei to get down. He was tightly curled in a ball around the scarf, his feet sticking almost vertical in the air. Kris was concerned he was going to do a somersault in the air like a trapeze artist. 

Ralsei was only about seven feet from the ground when they both heard the splintering of wood above. Kris, who hadn't moved far from the base of the tower, was quick enough to catch him, but the unexpected weight in their arms sent them tumbling backwards into the bed of flowers below. 

Kris, realizing that they had instinctively grabbed Ralsei around the middle, let go quickly. Ralsei didn't seem to noticed the awkward position they were in, because as soon as he rolled off Kris he was examining the grass, a look of wonder on his face.

Kris didn't move for a second, even as the rest of the scarf quickly began to pile on top of them. By the time they sat up and pushed it aside, Ralsei was already halfway across the meadow, laughing with glee. 

As Ralsei made his circuit, the pile of his scarf began to slowly recede. Fearing the inevitable entanglement, Kris took the end of the scarf and began to gather it up as best they could. They met up with Ralsei as he was sitting in a particularly thick patch of flowers. Only his hat could be seen above the petals. When Kris crouched next to him, they saw he was watching a worm inch its way up a blade of grass. 

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Ralsei said softly.

Kris really didn't know how to respond to that. They spent a few moments in silence, watching the worm as it took a bite out of of a nearby leaf. Ralsei eventually turned to Kris and smiled up at them.

"I think I'm ready to go, Kris."

~ '' ~

Kris had spent their childhood exploring the forest and knew parts of it very well. The area they found themself in as they stepped out of the meadow, however, was completely foreign. They didn't say anything to Ralsei, however, because they figured he didn't need to know. He was perfectly content following Kris' lead, so why make him worry? If they kept walking in the direction Ralsei's window faced, Kris reasoned, they were bound to stumble across some familiar landmark. 

Ralsei made for interesting company. He talked excitedly about the books on nature he'd read, and how much he'd always wanted to see it all in person. Despite his enthusiasm, Kris noticed he was deeply terrified of a lot of things. Like shadowy trees. And the shuffling of woodland creatures behind shrubbery. Whenever something scared him, he inched closer to Kris, and at any sudden noise or movement, he always jumped a mile into the air.

When he wasn't distracted, Ralsei was keeping up a steady stream of conversation with no one in particular, as Kris didn't respond much. It wasn't that they were annoyed with Ralsei (yet), they just preferred to keep their silence and let Ralsei's chatter wash over them.

"Sorry if I'm talking too much," said Ralsei, blushing slightly. He had apparently noticed Kris' lack of response.

"It's okay," said Kris, "I'm just not that much of a talker, that's all."

They walked for a few yards in silence, Ralsei anxiously twirling his fingers through the bundle of scarf clutched in his hands. Kris noted that the several feet trailing on the ground between them was starting to accumulate an amount of dirt and leaves.

"You can still talk if you want to, you know," said Kris, amused. They stopped for a moment to pick up the slack and wrap it around their arm, brushing off clods of dirt. They noticed for the first time a faint hum of magic coming from inside the fabric. 

Ralsei's blush deepened. "O-Oh, okay!" he said, "What do you want me to talk about?" 

After a few seconds, he seemed to realize that maybe asking that was an overstep. "Y-you don't have to say anything, i-if you don't-"

"How come you were trapped in that tower?" they asked. They had been wondering about this, but hadn't thought to ask until now. 

Ralsei paused. "I've never thought of it as being 'trapped'..."

"Then why were you... living up there?"

"I don't know, I guess I've always though that... the outside world is kind of scary... and going out by myself would be dangerous..." He turned to Kris, a smile lighting up his face. "And that's why I'm glad I have you, Kris!"

The moment of genuine affection from this near-stranger threw Kris for a loop. They felt a blush rise to their cheeks. 

"Why are you so interested in the lanterns?" they asked, in order to change the subject.

Ralsei squeezed his scarf closer to his chest. "... they always release them on my birthday."

"Well... happy birthday," said Kris awkwardly. "Early birthday, I guess, since it's tomorrow..."

Ralsei beamed. "Thank you! I think that's the first time anyone's wished me a happy birthday!" Ralsei looked at the ground. "Or I guess spoken to me... at all..."

Kris felt a pang of sadness. They weren't that much of a people person, but to have nobody to talk to at all... they couldn't even imagine how lonely that would be.

"Because it's always on my birthday, every year, I... I don't know, maybe... they might be for me? O-Or, at least, they're some kind of sign... l-like... um..." Ralsei trailed away, and Kris didn't try to help him pick up the thread of his thought.

Kris was momentarily distracted by the conversation with Ralsei, but their mind eventually made its way back to the satchel, which was hidden away somewhere in Ralsei's tower. Terror gripped their heart. They knew that Ralsei would be devastated if he didn't get to see the lanterns, but maybe if they showed him that it was for the best that they returned... by showing him how harsh the outside world really is...

A place they could go came to mind quickly. Surely the news about the robbery hasn't spread there yet, right?

"How do you feel," started Kris, "about taking a quick break? I know a really nice place nearby..."

"That sounds great Kris!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is kinda short! Living that #collegelife and I have almost no free time. I hope the next chapter will be up next Friday, but I don't think I can make any promises. I'm definitely going to continue with this, don't worry about that, but it might not be updated as regularly as I would like. Please be patient with me! 
> 
> Thanks for reading and supporting this!!! I really really appreciate it!!!!


	4. Four

God, thought Susie. This had to be like the fifth time they'd walked by the same dingy little tavern. There wasn't any point in going in circles like this anymore. She needed a new game plan. 

She eyed the tavern. Maybe if she started asking around, she could find out if someone spotted the human recently. And if not, she could warn them, and that would mean more people would be looking out for them.

That's a good enough excuse to take a break, she thought. It's not quitting. It's a strategy. 

She grabbed Lancer by the scruff of the neck and placed him on the ground. "Not a place for princes. I'll only be a few minutes. Don't... do anything."

"Got it, chief!" He stood perfectly still, straining to demonstrate that he was thoroughly capable of following orders. Susie gave him one last glare before she went inside, and when she looked out the window, he was nowhere in sight. Typical.

For a normal afternoon, the place seemed packed. People weren't able to find empty seats, so they were just standing wherever they could, looking pissed off. It didn't make the atmosphere any more positive. It was a place where some dark dealings went down, if the rumors were to be believed.

Susie managed to reach the bar, where an ugly fish-like man was sitting. He eyed Susie suspiciously.

"Whatcha after?" he said.

"I don't need anything, I'm just here to spread the news about a criminal on the run. They stole a crown from Card Cast-"

"What's the reward?"

Susie was taken aback. "Uhh... It's only been a couple of hours..."

He looked considerably less interested. Susie continued anyway. 

"Uh, they're human... they have brown hai-"

He cut her off again, waving his hand. "It shouldn't be too hard to spot a human around these parts." Was that a dig at Susie? "I'll keep an eye out for you."

Susie nodded and turned away, grateful for the end of the conversation. When she looked across the bar, she spotted a Rudinn, one of her fellow guards, sitting with a three-headed monster she vaguely knew from around the castle. She navigated her way through the crowd towards their table. 

When Rudinn spotted Susie, he blanched. "Oh! Um, h-hi Susie," he stammered.

"Given up already?" said Susie, annoyed. She'd been searching nonstop for an hour, maybe two, and Rudinn had been sitting here... She leaned menacingly against the table, which made Rudinn even more nervous.

"I-I-I was just... ta-taking a quick break..."

"Don't blame Rudy!" said the monster's middle head cheerfully, "He tried his best!"

"Even though OBVIOUSLY it wasn't GOOD ENOUGH," said the right head.

"But he at least tried! And that's what counts! ~ "

"Yeah! I d-didn't just... immediately come here..." said Rudinn, looking down at his plate.

"Maybe you deserve to slack off a little," said the left head quietly, "since they don't really pay you that much..."

That's fair, thought Susie.

"And at this point the only way we'd catch them is if they stumbled in here and that's..."

The left head's muttering was cut off by the monster's middle head yelling, "Oh my GOD look at how CUTE that BOY is!"

"Um... we can't point because we don't have arms, but yeah, I see him... he's okay I guess..."

Susie, in spite of herself, glanced up at where the monster's many eyes were trained, and at first wasn't able to see who she was talking about through all the people. But she eventually caught a glimpse of glasses and fluff by the door. He looked completely out of place, and a little sweaty.

"Yeah, that's my type alright!" roared Clover. Susie's eyes narrowed.

~ '' ~

As soon as they walked though the door, Kris could see out of the corner of their eye that Ralsei was terrified. They felt a pang of pity. And disgust at themself. Their plan seemed to be working, however. When they managed to get closer to the bar, someone tapped Kris on the shoulder, making them nearly jump out of their skin.

"You're a human, aren't you?" The fish-like man didn't wait for an answer. "Are you the one who stole from Card Castle?" 

Kris's blood went cold. They felt Ralsei's eyes on them, but they didn't look over. Kris didn't want to see the look on his face. Kris forced their eyes to a nearby table, where a man was sitting by himself. There was an egg by his hand.

The monster smirked at Kris' pale expression. "It IS you. That wasn't that hard," They turned away to call across the tavern. "HEY YOU! GUARD! I FOUND THEM!"

Before Kris and Ralsei could react, somebody grabbed the backs of their clothing and pulled them behind the bar. A split second later, Kris heard the sound of a commotion brewing. The yell had attracted the attention of the whole tavern, now nearly silent except for the cries of several people getting shoved out of the way, as well as the clomping of steel-toed boots getting closer and closer.

"Where'd you put them?" a gruff female voice said.

"They were right here just a second ago!"

Kris finally took a good look at the person who saved them, and saw it was the man with the egg.

"This leads to the caverns," he said quietly, gesturing to a trapdoor beneath them, "You should have enough of a head start to be able to get away, but you'll have to be quick." He looked straight at Ralsei as he spoke. 

"T-Thank you," said Ralsei quietly. As soon as the man opened the door, Ralsei slipped through. Kris followed, and as soon as their feet hit the ground, they and Ralsei began to run together through the darkness.


	5. Five

Lancer suddenly appeared at Susie's elbow. "What's with all the yelling and stomping? Is there a big brawl I can-"

"You didn't SEE them go in?," she yelled, "You were RIGHT THERE!"

Lancer blinked. "Who?"

"The HUMAN."

"Uhhhh, I was kinda distracted... But I did see a fluffy guy with this BIG scarf go in! And a human... oh."

Susie exhaled through her nose. Then she grabbed Lancer, stashed him under her arm like a football, and jumped on top of the bar to get a better view. The top of her head grazed the ceiling. 

The entire tavern was silent. Susie was making a scene, but didn't care enough to be embarrassed. She scanned the room, yellow eyes narrowed. She wondered where they could've possibly escaped when she noticed the handle in the floor behind the bar. Oh, they were good. Her boots made a loud thunk as she jumped down and wrenched it open. 

"That's the basement," said someone nearby.

"Great," said Susie, cracking her knuckles. "Should be easy to grab them then."

~ '' ~

Kris and Ralsei had a considerable head-start, but it wasn't long before they were able to hear the pound of heavy footsteps in their direction, and a voice saying, "Susie I don't think this is a basement..."

A faint light from nowhere illuminated their path. On the walls, there were strange dark openings dripping black ooze, and their path was not a straight one. The tunnel had sharp corners that twisted and turned in ways that seemed to defy logic. 

Susie wasn't paying attention to the details, however. She was laser-focused, until her attention was suddenly caught by Lancer patting the arm he was still tucked under.

"Hold on! I got this!" he said, as he wiggled out of Susie's grip and resumed his position on her back. A volley of spade-shaped blades materialized out of thin air and shot towards Kris and Ralsei. They managed to avoid them, barely.

"Woah, what the hell?" said Susie in awe, "How long have you been able to do that?"

Lancer, in response, laughed manically and formed another round of spades. This time they almost reached their mark, but the two fugitives were able to round a corner to safety, the fringed end of a scarf the last thing to whip out of sight.

The winding tunnel eventually opened up into a massive cavern. The walls here were also covered with dark, dripping holes, but a unique feature of this room were the massive rock formations hanging ominously overhead. If Kris reached up, they could probably touch their razor sharp tips.

Ralsei and Kris continued to run, and as they did, strange white puffs by their feet disintegrated with an odd exhale. The holes eventually gave way to what seemed to be entrances and exits, branching off in different directions. But which ones would actually lead to safety?

Lancer and Susie were now a bit too close for comfort. Lancer queued up his largest cloud of spades yet. The neat rows nearly filled the diameter of the cavern.

"PREPARE FOR SMASHING, YOU LUXURIOUS MELONS!!!" he hollered.

He released them all at once. The fleet rippled like a wave, shafts glimmering in the dim light. Then their ranks began to fall apart, spiraling in different directions. It was clear that he'd never tried to conjure this many before, and had completely lost control. The spades ricocheted off the ceiling and walls, taking big chunks out of the stone as they went.

Down the cavern near Kris and Ralsei, several spades who had managed to avoid the fray slammed into a particularly massive stalactite above them. The rock shuddered, then began to fall.

"Oops," said Lancer. Susie stopped in her tracks. As her eyes followed the path of the stalactite, she began slowly walking backwards. 

Right before the broken stalactite fell on top of them, Ralsei pulled Kris into the closest branching exit. Susie turned and ran. Lancer, bouncing on her back, looked over his shoulder, a horrified look on his face. 

The sharp point of the stalactite hit first and disintegrated on impact. Then the rest of the structure teetered and fell, its base falling right in front of the opening Ralsei and Kris just ducked through. On impact, it shattered completely, filling the entire cavern with dust and debris. Susie and Lancer were already long gone. 

It took ages for the deafening noise to end, and even longer for the echoing to stop. Eventually only ringing silence was left. Kris and Ralsei dared not even breathe.

Finally, there was a sound in the darkness. "Kris."

It was Ralsei's voice, very small, shaking slightly. "It's a dead end."

"What?" said Kris, finally unlocking their gritted teeth. They nearly tripped over Ralsei clambering for the other end of their hiding spot. Their hand met with crumbling rock.

They let their hand linger for a moment as the weight of the situation washed over them. As the shock wore away, desperation was left in its place. They kicked the wall, then the rocks covering where they'd come from. They beat their fists against them, until Ralsei cried, "Stop! Please! There's no use..."

"I'm s-sorry." His voice was now muffled by his scarf. Kris could tell that he had begun to cry, "this is all m-my fault..."

Kris immediately softened. Their fists relaxed. "No it isn't." 

On instinct, they reached out blindly in the dark for Ralsei. When they found him, they wrapped him up in their arms.

"I-I was the one who w-wanted to l-leave..." he sobbed into Kris' shoulder.

"You didn't know this was going to happen," Kris said. If anything, this was their fault, 100%. 

"I'm completely useless..." said Ralsei miserably, "I-I... I can't do anythi-"

He froze. "Wait a second. I can do something."

Kris felt Ralsei pull away, and a split second later, Ralsei's hands were ablaze. The sudden brightness made both of them flinch. Ralsei lifted his hands to get a better view of the room, and they saw that above their heads, the ceiling opened up into a wide tunnel leading away from the cavern. There was a ledge within climbing distance.

"C'mon, I'll give you a boost," said Kris quickly. 

Ralsei, carefully keeping the flames going, was able to climb up with Kris' help. With some effort, Kris was able to scale the crumbling wall themself, and when they both stood on the ledge and looked down the passage, they saw light in the distance. Without a word, they began to head towards it. 

As they approached, they began to hear a steady roaring sound, growing louder with each step. When they reached the opening and peeked around the edge of the stone, there was a huge waterfall cascading down next to their heads. The rush of water was deafening. 

Kris looked down. The falls emptied into a wide, lazy river beneath them. There was no scaffolding, no ladders.

"I think we'll have to jump!" yelled Kris, hoping that Ralsei could hear them over the rush of the water. He looked terrified, but determined. He didn't say anything as he dropped his scarf, took off his glasses and slipped them into his pocket. 

Kris helped Ralsei gather up as much of his scarf as he could, then they both jumped. As they fell, the lightness Kris felt was exhilarating, until they crashed feet-first into the freezing, tumultuous water. They felt themselves being spun every which way by the current of the falls, but was eventually able to gain their bearings and push out towards shore. When their hands finally sunk into the soft mud of the riverbank, they rested there for a moment, gasping for air, before they remembered Ralsei. 

They began to look around the area, panicking, but soon found that he was right there beside them, clutching to the bank as red wet fabric streamed lazily behind him.

"We're alive," he said, his voice trembling, but full of relief. At the sight of him, Kris collapsed into the ground again with relief, and their nose was now too deep in the cool mud to respond.

"I'm so stupid!" Ralsei suddenly wailed, startling Kris. "I can do MAGIC, and I just... sat there a-and didn't remember to use it u-until it was too late..."

"You're not stupid," said Kris, "sometimes people just... freeze. It happens."

"We could have DIED!"

"But we didn't. Because of you. You saved us."

Kris looked over at Ralsei. He was hiding his face in his soaked scarf. His shoulders shook. Kris pulled themself up onto the bank and offered a hand to Ralsei.

"You're going to catch a cold. C'mon."

Ralsei smiled weakly and took their hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god this chapter was so hard to write i'm sorry i'm so bad at chase sequences.
> 
> anyway, sorry it's kinda late but we're gonna get to That Good Shit soon so hang tight. at least i hope it's good. i still have to write it. 
> 
> Y'all are great and I hope you liked this chapter!


	6. Six

Ralsei took his glasses out of his pocket and tried to dry the lenses on his robes. His robes, however, were also soaked. When he noticed this, he sadly put the glasses back on his nose.

The pair were sitting together on the trunk of a fallen tree, shivering. Ralsei was unusually quiet. Kris felt a need to break the silence.

"Can you help me find some wood? For a fire." 

"Sure, Kris." There was only a little inflection in his voice.

Ralsei stood up and began poking around the edge of the clearing. Together, they were able to gather enough wood for a medium sized pile. Kris was also able to find a sturdy stick a little over half their height, which gave them an almost childlike glee to wield. 

Ralsei kneeled in front of the pile and pushed his scarf behind his shoulder. He conjured a small fireball in his hands and set the smallest piece of wood alight. Soon enough, the fire was raging. Ralsei gratefully warmed his hands near it. 

Kris looked over at Ralsei. At some point Ralsei had taken taken his hat off to wring it dry. This was the first time that Kris was actually able to properly see his face. The hat Ralsei wore cast an unnaturally dark shadow, most likely magical in nature, which covered up bright white fur and little pink horns.

Ralsei noticed Kris staring and smiled at them. Even with somewhat dried fur sticking up in weird places, he was very cute. Kris told themself that it was the close proximity to the fire that was making their face hot. 

A few minutes later, Ralsei's voice broke the silence. 

"I..." Ralsei began, "... I'm sorry for putting you through all this."

The stick, which had been twirling in Kris' hands, slowed to a halt. Kris looked over at Ralsei, who wouldn't meet their eyes. 

"Maybe you should just take me home, and then..."

Kris knew that they should feel relieved. They wouldn't have to go anywhere near the city, and they would get their crown back and be on their way. But their stomach twisted at the idea of... they didn't know what exactly.

They took a few steps towards him. "We're almost there, Ralsei. Don't you want to see it?" Kris couldn't believe they were actually trying to change his mind.

"O-of course I do! It's just I don't want you to be..."

Ralsei's head was bent, most of his face covered in scarf again. Kris sat down on the trunk and turned to look at him.

"It's not going to happen again. I promise," Kris said sincerely. "The city's going to be nothing like this." They hoped.

"... Y-you're right, Kris, I'm just being..."

Ralsei's hands were twisting in his lap. He was trying to hide it, but he was sniffling again. Kris leaned over and hugged him. He relaxed under their touch.

After a few seconds, Ralsei gently pulled away and said, "But you wanted me to want to go back earlier..." 

So he had picked up on that. Well they weren't exactly being subtle. "Don't you still want to? Especially after all this?"

Kris stared into the fire for a moment. "No," they said. And they meant it.

~ ' ~

"Why don't you ever take off your scarf?" asked Kris as they poked the fire with their prized stick. It had been a while since they'd made camp, and they would need to go find more wood soon.

"Oh, um..." said Ralsei, "I've tried before... that's why it's so long, actually."

"... What?"

"Um... whenever I pull it, it just becomes... longer..." Kris nearly dropped the stick into the fire as they whipped their head around to look at Ralsei in disbelief.

"So I stopped trying, a long time ago... back when it was quite a bit shorter than this, actually." He laughed a twinkling little laugh. "Accidents happen."

Kris' eyes traced the path of the wet scarf from Ralsei's neck around their campsite and over the forest floor. They were at a loss for words.

"... it has to be uncomfortable sometimes." they said eventually.

"Yes, but other times it can be quite lovely... I like to wrap myself up in it sometimes... it's very cozy..."

The image of Ralsei's bespectacled eyes peeping out from under a pile of red fabric was too much for Kris. 

"... it's not the best when it's wet though. Or dirty," said Ralsei, gently pulling the wet cloth around his neck away from his skin, trying carefully to not increase its length.

Kris stood up from their squatting position by the fire and began searching the nearby area for the end of the scarf. They found it on the riverbank, its edge still slightly submerged in the water. This section of the scarf had clearly been through a lot. They began gently squeezing the water out of the fabric and gathering it up neatly in their arms. Once Ralsei noticed what they were doing, he leapt up and began helping by squeezing the water out from the other end of the scarf. 

They met approximately in the middle, Kris with a sizable bundle in their arms. Ralsei looked up at them and said in almost a whisper, "Thanks, Kris." He gently placed a hand on their arm.

Kris nearly dropped the pile. They swallowed, nodded and continued to wrap the remainder of the scarf. They hoped Ralsei didn't notice the blush creeping along their face.

Kris placed the bundle close to the fire to dry and plopped back down on the trunk with Ralsei. He was sitting composedly, his hands folded in his lap and his legs crossed at the ankles. A moment passed.

"I hardly know anything about you, Kris," Ralsei said, looking down, "it seems like all we talk about is me..."

Kris thought they weren't nearly as interesting as Ralsei, but didn't say that aloud. Instead they leaned their elbows on their knees and put their chin in their hands.

"Well," they began, "I'm from this little town about a mile north of Card Kingdom. I uh... grew up in an orphanage."

"Oh."

"Yeah, but it wasn't terrible as it sounds. The woman in charge treated us like we were her kids..." Kris paused.

"What made you want to leave?" asked Ralsei softly.

Kris poked the fire, delaying their response. "I... wanted to find my own way, I guess... We grew up hearing these grand stories of heroes in shining armor. I guess I wanted to be like that. So I left to go... find it."

Ralsei was the one quietly listening now.

"Also my best friend, the orphanage owner's son... he left a few months before I did and I..." Kris had no idea why they were telling someone they had just met about Asriel... or any of this at all.

"But there really isn't that big of a demand for heroes. And I found out that I needed to actually make a living. So I..."

Ralsei wrapped his arms around his own waist. "You started stealing," he said, looking into Kris' eyes.

"Yeah," they said heavily. They weren't proud of it. They never had been.

"I-I don't blame you," said Ralsei, looking away, "o-or think less of you..."

"Maybe you should." It took them a moment to realize that they had said this out loud. Ralsei was quiet. 

The fire was mostly hot coals now, its dim light the only thing keeping the slowly creeping darkness away from where the two of them sat in heavy silence. Kris eventually stood.

"It's too late to keep going," they said. The last few hues of the sunset visible between the treeline were beginning to fade. "We might as well stay here for the night."

"Okay."

Kris found a place on the ground to curl up, and they heard Ralsei head towards their bundle of scarf. 

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Kris."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all know that feeling when you just find a GOOD STICK in the WOODS. tall. sturdy. can be used as a walking stick. a wizard's staff. to hit your friends. there's no better feeling in the goddamn world than finding a stick. i wish i could feel that way every day.
> 
> anyway thanks for reading it's very late
> 
> (also the next chapter probably isn't gonna come out next week because i have nothing written for it yet i'm gonna shoot for two weeks please bear with me thanks ily)


	7. Seven

Kris was relieved that they had an idea of where they were now. They actually weren't that far from town, although the geography of where the tunnels spit them out seemed a little off. They had been walking for a while when Ralsei stopped dead in his tracks. He stuck out an arm in front of Kris to make them stop as well. 

"I hear something," he said nervously.

Kris wasn't too concerned. This had happened yesterday. Multiple times. "It's just a deer, probably..." they said, and was about to keep walking until they heard the crashing footsteps as well. They were a little bit too loud to be normal wildlife.

Then Susie and Lancer emerged. A moment passed as the two groups stared at each other, dumbfounded, then Lancer's face broke into a wide smile.

"Hohoho!! If it isn't my favorite clowns!"

Kris and Ralsei were too stunned to flee. 

"Just kidding!!! You're not even in my top five!"

"Oh my GOD," said Susie in disbelief, "I can't believe we just stumbled into you..." 

Lancer was vibrating with excitement now. 

"This is almost TOO easy..." scoffed Susie, "it really takes the fun out -"

"I don't even have it..." Kris said quietly.

"Well where is it then?"

Kris turned away, fists clenched. 

"I-I lost it!" squeaked Ralsei, drawing everyone's attention to him for the first time. He blushed. 

"We were running in the mines, and the rock collapsed, a-and..."

"Doesn't matter!!!" interjected Lancer, "we're still gonna bring you to pound town!! Right, Susie?"

"Haha, yeah," Susie said, cracking her knuckles, "It probably matters to someone that you lost it, but honestly? I couldn't care less."

"Wait!" Ralsei said pleadingly, "I just want to see the lanterns!"

Susie and Lancer's expressions changed to complete confusion.

"I-It's been my dream for so long, I..." He buried his face in his scarf. "I-It's just one day, right?"

Nobody said anything. Ralsei's face was completely hidden behind red fabric.

"Stop that!!" Lancer said loudly, breaking the silence, "You're making me have feelings!!" He patted Susie on the elbow, the highest point he could reach. "Huddle."

They both turned on the spot and began whispering intently to each other. Kris was only able to catch Lancer say, "But he's such a sweet little peach..." Ralsei glanced over at Kris, who wouldn't meet his eyes.

Eventually, Lancer turned back to face them, a mock serious expression on his face and one pudgy finger in the air. 

"Just one day!" he declared. He pointed at Ralsei. "Because Toothpaste Boy insists."

The nickname threw Ralsei off guard, but he smiled all the same. "G-Great!"

"But we're not letting you out of our sight." said Susie, looking directly at Kris. They continued to look at the ground.

"I'll lead the way!" said Lancer, swinging his arms dramatically as he walked in the wrong direction.

As Ralsei nervously bounced after Lancer to fix his mistake, Susie bumped into Kris' shoulder. Hard.

"Once this is over..." she said under her breath, "you're going down."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah i know it's short but i didn't know where else to cut it so here it is. y'all are great. thank you.


	8. Eight

Susie was following the party at a distance, clearly not wanting to be associated. The intensity of her gaze made Kris a little bit uncomfortable. Ralsei, clearly having noticed their expression, gently touched them on the arm. "Are you okay, Kris?" 

They nodded, even though that was a total lie. They felt terrible about having dragged Ralsei into all of this. Kris wouldn't be able to forgive themselves if something were to happen to him because of what they did...

Out of the corner of their eye, Kris saw a few shiny helmets bobbing in the crowd. Their pulse quickened. Then they saw Ralsei take off his hat and stand on his tiptoes to place it on their head. He straightened it with both hands before stepping back to admire his handiwork. 

"It looks nice! And it's a perfect disguise."

"Uh, thanks," said Kris, trying to ignore the flipping sensation in their stomach. Susie's eyebrows raised at Ralsei's unexpectedly fluffy appearance. 

Lancer from far up ahead turned to face them. "We should all get hot chocolate!" he yelled. 

~ ' ~

There was a tense silence between the four of them, save for the slurping noises coming from Lancer's corner, as they sat in a booth with their hot chocolates. 

Susie suddenly stood up and nodded at Kris. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

After briefly considering dashing out the door, Kris stood and followed Susie to a nearby corner, where she leaned up against the wall. They noticed Ralsei's eyes following the two of them. He looked a little worried. 

Susie crossed her arms and glared down at Kris. "So what's the deal with Goatboy."

Kris looked at their shoes. "I'm doing him a favor," they said quietly, "He's not... from around here."

"You're not just doing this to be nice though," said Susie, "You've gotta be getting something out of it." It wasn't a question. 

Kris continued to refuse to look Susie in the eye. They glanced over at the table, where Lancer was showing Ralsei how to balance a spoon on his nose.

"... he has the crown. In his house. "

Susie's eyes narrowed. "But he said he lost it..."

"He was just trying to cover for m-"

"So you ARE just doing this for yourself," she cut in, "so he'll give it back."

Kris didn't answer.

"Pft. That's what I thought."

Behind them, they heard the clatter of a spoon on the table and snorting laughter. Susie turned to go, but Kris grabbed her sleeve to stop her, then quickly dropped it.

"Listen," said Kris quietly, "once he gives it back, you can have it. And I'll turn myself in."

Susie blinked. 

"On one condition," they continued, their voice strengthening, "... Promise me you'll check in on Ralsei from time to time. Or have Lancer do it. He's all alone. I..."

Susie's expression changed. The sincerity was clearly throwing her for a loop. "Fine," she said, her aggressive demeanor dropping completely. She looked a little uncomfortable. "Sure. I'll do that."

The two of them sat down again and Kris tried to pay attention to whatever nonsense Lancer was spewing, but their thoughts were far away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a while, but i'm hopefully going to be able to do somewhat regular updates from here on out. i hope. thanks for reading!!


	9. Nine

"Hello! My name is Lancer, and I'll be your tour guide for this afternoon!!"

The four of them were standing in the middle of the sidewalk outside the cafe, Susie, Ralsei and Kris in a line with Lancer facing them. His mock-serious posture conflicted with his toothy grin. Susie's foot tapped anxiously on the concrete. Ralsei had a wide, slightly confused smile on his face. Kris's eyes just barely peeked over the mound of scarf in their arms. 

Lancer began to make his way down the street. "Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times!" he yelled over his should to the other three, who were following several feet behind, struggling to keep up with the speed the considerable incline of the pavement afforded Lancer's wheeled feet.

Lancer pointed ahead with his entire hand. "Over there, that BIG castle... that's my house!! It's got all my stuff in it!!" He gracefully swerved to avoid running over an unsuspecting pedestrian. "And my dad lives there too! He's the King, as you all know. He's the best!!!"

He rounded a corner and turned on a dime, waving his hands with a dramatic flourish.

"And this is the town square!"

The street opened up into large circular area lined on all sides with shops. A few horse-drawn carriages rumbled passed, narrowly avoiding the crowds of monsters bustling along on their day-to-day business. Many carried baskets of wares, some held tight to their children's hands as they navigated the busy square. The centerpiece of the scene was a marble sculpture, which spat water several feet into the air.

"This fountain's pretty neat!! The water usually tastes pretty good, but sometimes..."

"Um, I-I don't think you're supposed to drink it..." Ralsei said, concerned. 

Lancer didn't seem to hear him. "On with the tour!"

He led them down an increasingly complicated set of twists and turns, through both well lit streets and dark alleys at increasing speed, until he eventually stopped suddenly on another busy street corner. He looked around, clearly trying to hide the concern in his face. 

"And this is... a street," he said.

"Um, Lancer?" Ralsei piped up, "D-Do you... know where we are?"

Lancer guffawed. "Of course I do, Toothpaste! I'm the best nav-"

"Maybe you shouldn't be the one leading," said Susie, stepping forward and placing a hand on top of Lancer's head. "I know my way around here."

Lancer made a noise somewhere between a squeak and an exasperated sigh. "Susie! I got this! Watch!" He then scampered away down a side street. Susie crossed her arms and looked over at Kris and Ralsei. 

"If you want to be lead by someone who actually knows where they're going," she said, "you should follow me." Then she walked back through the alley they'd just come out of. 

Kris and Ralsei didn't move. For a moment they just stood, dumbfounded.

"Where do you want to go?" asked Kris. 

"I-I don't know..." said Ralsei, his fingers tapping together nervously, "We've been moving pretty fast... I really want to see some parts of the city up close. Maybe we can walk around here..."

"Alright."

~ " ~

After spending a few minutes on the busy street, Kris noticed that the two of them, or more specifically, the comically large scarf Kris was holding, was getting strange looks. They had an idea.

"Stay here, I'll be back in a second," they said before handing him the scarf and running into a nearby store. 

Ralsei bobbed nervously on his toes, hugging the fabric to his chest and looking at everything around him with equal parts fear and awe. He didn't even noticed when Kris appeared at his shoulder again.

"Here," they said, holding up a canvas backpack. "Hopefully it's big enough. For the scarf."

"Oh, that's a great idea Kris!" Ralsei beamed. Kris' stomach did a back flip. 

They spent a few moments figuring out the best way to stuff the scarf into the backpack, and when they were done, only a foot or two stuck out over the lip of the bag. The large bag looked a little comical on Ralsei's back, but it was better than scrambling to hold many yards of loose fabric in the middle of the marketplace. 

As they made their way down the street, Ralsei and Kris made a point of investigating the window displays of every shop, occasionally slipping in whenever Ralsei found something so fascinating he needed to take a closer look. He had learned so much from reading books, but so many of the things he'd read about he'd never been able to experience for himself. 

Kris eventually decided that they needed to voice what was on their mind. They were standing together in the street, deciding which direction to go next.

"I feel bad," Kris said, "that I roped you into this..."

"It's okay!" said Ralsei quickly, "I'm sure we'll run into one of them soon..."

"No, I mean... all of it. The whole... mess."

Ralsei paused for a moment. "You didn't have to agree to take me, but you did," he said. "I never would've done this if it wasn't for you..." He looked down. "I'm really happy..."

In a split second, Kris grabbed Ralsei's hand and pulled him onto the sidewalk, right before a carriage sped by.

"Oh!"

Ralsei looked down and noticed his hand still clasped in Kris'. Kris reluctantly, but quickly, let go.

"Oh, um," said Ralsei quietly, "you don't... y-you don't have to let go." Kris' eyes widened. They never expected Ralsei to be so bold.

"If you don't want to! I mean..." He trailed off, his face a lot more red than usual. He determinedly turned his eyes toward the ground. Kris took his hand, which caused him to look up again. They smiled, and felt their heart begin to thud loudly in their chest as Ralsei grinned shyly back. 

~ " ~

"I'm kind of worried about them..."

"Hm?"

"Lancer and Susie..."

It had been a few hours since they'd disappeared. Kris and Ralsei had found their way back to the town square, and as they looked around they saw no sign of them.

"I don't really trust either of them to know where they're going..."

"Hey!!!!"

They spotted Lancer sitting on the fountain's ledge, dangerously close to the water below. He was waving his arms energetically.

"I said I was the best at navigating! And I was right!!!!"

"Good job!" exclaimed Ralsei. Kris gave him a thumbs up.

Lancer looked down, kicking his feet a little. "I think Susie got really lost though."

"Nah, I've been here the whole time." The three of them jumped as Susie appeared next to Lancer on the edge of the fountain.

"I knew you chumps were gonna make it back here eventually. Well maybe not you." She propped her elbow on top of Lancer's head. He sputtered, but didn't lean away. Susie turned her attention to Kris and Ralsei. 

"Where we off to now."

~ " ~

A few hours later, the sun was beginning to set. Lancer had somehow convinced them to let him take the lead again, and the group found themselves by the docks.

"Aha! This is exactly where I wanted to end up!!... I mean... this is the place I lead you to. Intentionally."

Lancer scampered down the dock to one of the boats and dramatically slapped the bow of one of them.

"This right here is the best way to see the lanterns. Get in!!"

"Oh! Okay!"

Ralsei hesitantly stepped into the boat, a terrified expression crossing his face as it rocked in response to his weight. Kris watched nervously, prepared to grab him if he fell, but he managed to settle into his seat without incident.

"Are you coming with us, Lancer?" Ralsei asked. 

"Nope! I have to be home in time for dinner. See ya chumps!!!!"

Lancer skipped back up the dock, the wooden boards creaking under his feet. 

"W-What about you, Susie?"

Susie looked on, leaning against a tree. Maybe it was their imagination, but Kris thought she looked a little queasy. 

"Nah, that's not my thing. You guys have fun."

Kris hopped into the boat and fiddled with the knot tying them to the dock. 

"Ready to see the lanterns?" they asked Ralsei. 

"Y-Yeah!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You could say that it's poetic that it's been Literally A Full Calendar Month (as in the 18th and the 18th) since I've updated this. But it's also Pretty Bad. 
> 
> Thanks for waiting. I'll try to do better.


	10. Ten

Kris felt a pang of annoyance they didn't want to explain as the darkness, combined with Ralsei's shadowy hat, made it almost completely impossible to see Ralsei's face. 

"My goodness, I'm so nervous..." Ralsei said, shivering a little in the cold night air. Kris was mostly feeling the urge to toss that stupid hat as far as they could into the lake. But they didn't tell Ralsei that, just smiled and pulled the oars they'd been using to row into the boat and set them by their feet. 

Then it was as if someone up there heard Kris' thoughts. A particularly strong gust of wind nearly knocked Ralsei's hat off his head, and Ralsei, laughing, took it off and placed it under his seat for safekeeping.

"Look," Kris said quickly, pointing over Ralsei's shoulder and trying to ignore their quickening pulse. Ralsei turned and gasped with delight when he spotted pale blue dots drifting towards their boat, growing larger over the horizon. 

As Ralsei scrambled to the side of boat to get a better view, Kris saw the look of wonder and complete joy on Ralsei's face and silently decided that spending the rest of their life in prison was completely worth it. For this, anything was. 

Although maybe Ralsei shouldn't be leaning that far over, Kris thought, as the boat began to tip to one side. Kris lunged forward and grabbed Ralsei, who let out a little squeak as the boat aggressively corrected itself. Even after they both managed to avoid being dumped into the water, neither of them let go of the other for a moment as the boat gently swayed beneath their feet. Kris suddenly found it hard to breathe. 

Ralsei pulled away slightly, arms still wrapped tightly around Kris' waist. As he opened his mouth to say something, a lantern bumped not-so-gently into the side of Kris' head, effectively breaking the moment. Ralsei giggled. 

Kris grabbed the lantern with both hands before it could float away again and examined it for a moment, the thin blue paper rippling in their hands. It was almost as if the lantern was breathing. Then Kris passed it to Ralsei, who took it carefully and studied the symbol on its side. He was clearly holding his breath. After a moment, he gently let it go, watching its ascent with a small smile on his face. 

Ralsei eventually turned his gaze down to his lap, where his hands began to fidget.

"Listen, I..." 

Kris waited. They had no idea where this could be going.

"I have your satchel." He opened his cloak to show where it was hanging on his hip. 

Well they weren't expecting that. 

"It was the best place I could think of to hide it," Ralsei said, laughing a little. "But I think you should hold onto it." He lifted the satchel over his head and held it out to Kris.

Kris paused. "...You should keep it. For now," they added, even though they didn't even want it later. In the last few hours, that crown had barely crossed their mind.

"You were so eager to get it back before," said Ralsei, confused. Kris hesitated, then grabbed it and slid it gently under their seat. Having it out in the open made them a little nervous. 

"I don't think I need it anymore," said Kris, surprising even themself with the truth of the statement.

"W-Why's that?" Ralsei squeaked nervously, as Kris moved a little closer to him.

"Hey! Watch out, nerds!"

Their slow drift suddenly halted as an arm reached out and stopped the boat in its tracks. They saw Susie smirking down at them. 

"You nearly crashed into the shore."

Her feet were barely wet as she stood next to them, their boat floating in barely an inch of water. She began to pull them up the rest of the way onto the sand. Ralsei quickly pulled his hat over his ears and hopped out, narrowly avoiding the lapping water.

"Is that..." said Susie, noticing the satchel Kris was hesitantly pulling out from under their seat.

"Uhhh..."

"You know what, I'll pretend I didn't see it." Her face was unreadable. 

"I'm gonna uh... take the boat... over to the dock," volunteered Kris. "Be back soon."

"Uh... okay!" said Ralsei, a little nervously. 

Kris felt Susie looking at them, but didn't make eye contact with her. They knew that there would be a suspicious glint in her eye. Even though she had nothing to worry about, they thought. 

They pushed the boat off the shore again and gracelessly hopped in. They had tried to avoid stepping in the water, but they hadn't been quick enough and their shoes were now soaked. They barely noticed, however, because their mind was too preoccupied trying to process all the emotions swirling around in it.

It wasn't that Kris regretted the deal they'd made with Susie, even though it meant they would be sitting in a jail cell in just a few hours. But it meant that there wasn't a possibility of being with Ralsei in the way they wanted to. The only thing to do now was take Ralsei back to his tower, then they'd probably never see him again. 

As this last thought began to fill their mind, they only just managed to snap back to reality quickly enough to stop themself before crashing into the dock at full speed. 

They hastily tied up the boat and hopped out, leaving a path of wet shoe prints on the wood as they trudged back to shore. They were brainstorming ideas of how to intentionally slow down the trip back to the tower when they noticed they weren't alone. 

"What's up, Kris?" said Berdly, malice in every syllable. 

Kris let out a long exhale in response. 

"Not happy to see me?"

"Not really."

"It's interesting... running into you here..." His eyes were no longer on Kris' face, but the satchel. He nodded towards it. "The guards said you didn't have it earlier..."

"You've been talking to the guards."

"We... reached an agreement."

"How were you able to manage that."

"They didn't care about me. All they wanted was the crown, so they let me go."

Kris' fists clenched.

"I don't really understand why they care so much, though. I don't," Berdly said snootily. "I've been told you have something a lot more valuable in your possession these days."

Kris blinked. What on earth could that mean?

"The scarf. That your friend is wearing."

Kris felt a sinking feeling in their stomach. 

"You know what I would do if I was able to do that sort of magic?" 

Kris didn't want to know. They felt a little sick. 

"Where are you hiding him?" Berdly demanded.

"Why would I tell you." Their tone was beginning to rise.

"Because you might regret it if you don't," he said in a slight sing-song. 

Kris wasn't going to fall for that. Berdly was too cowardly to pick a fight like this. Kris was about to tell him so when Berdly turned and yelled, "I FOUND THEM!" towards the mainland. 

A half dozen guards emerged from the woods, heading straight for Kris and ignoring Berdly altogether.

There wasn't anywhere to run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOY this chapter took me longer than i thought it would
> 
> As you can see I added a total chapter number which I highly doubt is gonna change ((unless i did my math wrong.......)) since it's summer i'll hopefully be churning those chapters out a bit quicker than these last few
> 
> hope you enjoyed!!!!!!!!!


End file.
